


Slytherin's Heir and the Chamber of Secrets

by CrashDevil (cjdevlin19)



Series: Slytherin's Heir series [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-03 21:47:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14578353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjdevlin19/pseuds/CrashDevil
Summary: Calidara Nefzen is a twelve year old witch adopted into a Muggle family who raised her right. Her mother is in Azkaban and her father is the most evil dark wizard of the past 50 years. She's the most detested student in Slytherin because she doesn't act like a Slytherin but she's obviously more likely to have opened the Chamber of Secrets than Harry 'the Savior' Potter, right?~~~~~"This is Calidara?" The redheaded woman asked, an undertone of nervousness in her words."Yes, ma'am. You must be Fred and George's mum. It's brilliant to meet you." Callie responded, offering her hand to the woman. Mrs. Weasley took it and clasped it between her hands. "These are my parents, Jemma and Edward Nefzen."Her parents wasted no time moving from Mrs. Weasley to Hermione's parents, who Callie introduced as Drs. Granger, ("they're dentists!") while Mrs. Weasley examined her. "Well, I don't know what you were talking about, Ronald. She doesn't look evil, to me." The woman said, smiling brightly. "I rather think your brothers are right.""Have you gone mad, mum?" George asked in a conspiratorial tone."You can't say things like that aloud! You're going to ruin our reputations!" Fred finished.





	1. Summer Holidays

Calidara Nefzen went by 'Malfoy' to her friends. The twelve year old girl had taken to wearing her fine white-blond hair in a fish-bone braid and was considering asking her adoptive parents if she could put purple streaks in it.

Her cousin, Draco, thought this was a terrible idea and told her why in a four page letter which mostly said the words 'rubbish', 'low-born', and 'ugly' over and over in varying sentence structure. Her friends, Fred and George Weasley, who were older twin boys that enjoyed themselves thoroughly, thought it was an amazing idea, one going so far as to say she'd look 'hot with purple hair'.

Her friend Harry Potter gave no response to either of the letters she sent him over the first month of vacation, prompting her to worry about his horrible Muggle family and how they were treating him. So, while her parents were at work, she hopped on a train at Waterloo Station and rode the half hour to Surrey.

Number four Privet Drive was a small, boxy house on a street filled with other identical boxy houses. She walked up to the door, eyes falling on the bars holding tight outside of a second-floor window. She knocked, politely, on the door and waited. A tall, skinny woman opened the door. She looked absolutely baffled to see the small blond girl on her front step. "Good morning!" Callie said, smiling.

"If you're selling something-" The woman started, a large boy with honey colored hair coming up behind her. 

"Oh, I'm not selling anything. I'm here to see Harry."

"Who?" The woman squeaked. 

"Harry Potter. He lives here, right? Used to live under those stairs."

"You're one of his freaks, aren't you?" The round boy accused.

"I think you mean 'friends'." Callie said, smiling.

"We'll not have your kind here." The angular woman said, sticking her nose up.

"You're his Aunt Petunia, right? Which makes you Dudley." Callie said, smiling as she pushed past the woman to smile at the round boy.

"You get out of my house!" Petunia exclaimed.

"No, see, I'm here to see the boy who's up on the second floor with the bars on his window, and you should know better than to make a witch angry."

"You can't do magic outside of school. You can't do a thing to-"

Petunia stopped speaking as Callie pulled a small vial out of her jacket. "There's a loophole for every law, isn't there? This is mine. See, the Ministry doesn't count potions as a traceable form of magic because even Muggles can use them once they're brewed. This one is called 'The Draught of Living Death', basically gives you leprosy. Of course, I took the antidote as a precaution when I was making it, so if I were to toss this on the ground the only ones affected would be you and dear Duddykins." She concealed the bottle in her palm and smiled, politely, at Petunia Dursley. "Or, we could act like civilized Britons and you could send dear Dudley to go let Harry out of his room so I could spend a day with my friend."

"Duddy, go let Harry out."

"But Dad said-"

"Dudley, go let Harry out!" The woman's voice went shrill and the boy ran up the stairs.

Harry walked down the stairs, confused for a moment before his eyes fell on Calidara. He ran down the rest of the way. "Callie! What are you doing here?"

"Threatening your family with consequences of their terrible acts. Walk with me?"

"Definitely." Harry said, rushing past Petunia. As they walked out of the house, Petunia slammed the door behind them. "They know we can't use magic. How'd you threaten them?"

She produced the vial and showed it to him. "Told them it was 'Draught of Living Death', which is actually an extreme sleeping potion, but they don't need to know that."

"And  _is_ that-"

"Perfume I got from my mum for my birthday." She said, with a smirk. 

"Brilliant." Harry said, with a smile. "So, what are you doing all the way out here in Surrey?"

"I got worried. I sent you two letters and the owl came back like they'd been delivered but I never got a response."

Harry shook his head. "I never got them. There was a house elf named Dobby who was stealing my mail." 

"Weird. I thought maybe Athena misdelivered them... which was weird because she's had no problems getting letters to Draco and Fred and George." She shrugged. "Can't believe they've locked you away again. Terrible people."

"They were being  _okay_ until Dobby showed up and clued them in to the fact that I can't do magic outside of school. So, they locked me in my room, said I wasn't going to school."

"Well, at least I was able to get you a day pass. And when I get home I  _will_ call in the cavalry. The Weasley boys won't stand for you starving in a home cell."

"Well, it's good that you're here. I thought you were still mad at me."

"Well, if you'd gotten my letters, you'd know I've forgiven you. I understand that I'm going to have to prove and re-prove myself as a good person. It's just a fact of my life."

"Not to me. Not ever again. I know that you're a good person. You came all this way just to check on me." 

"Come on. I've been babysitting my neighbors son the whole summer, so I have a bit of money saved up. Let's get you some curry or something."

As the sun started to go down, Calidara walked Harry back to Privet Drive, a little nervous about him having to go back. "I promise that I will write to Fred as soon as I get home. They're already worried about you, too, and once I tell them your family is locking you away and starving you... they're sure to help."

"Thank you for an amazing day, Callie. Even if the Weasleys don't show-"

"They will." She smiled, pulling her perfume out of her pocket. "Do you want the perfume?"

Harry laughed. "No. I think I'll be okay. Thanks. I'll see you on the train?"

"Of course." She smiled, then hugged him. "Be safe. Don't let those... ridiculous Muggles hurt you."

~~

It was a week later when she received a letter, carried by the snowy owl Hedwig. It said Harry had, indeed, been rescued by the Weasleys... in a flying car, no less. He was happy, excited for school and they were planning to go to Diagon Alley for supplies on Wednesday should she want to meet up with them. She immediately wrote to Draco to extend the invitation onward.

Her parents insisted on going with her this time, they hadn't liked her buying her own supplies for the first year. Wednesday morning found them in Gringotts, converting pounds to Galleons. She figured they'd go find Harry and the Weasleys after, but she didn't have to wait. 

"Did Lucius Malfoy buy anything?" A redheaded man near the entrance said.

"No, he was selling-" Harry said.

"So he's worried. Oh, I'd love to get Lucius Malfoy for something..."

"You be careful, Arthur, that family's trouble. Don't go biting off more than you can chew-" A redheaded woman responded.

"So you don't think I'm a match for Lucius Malfoy?" 

"What's that about Lucius Malfoy?" She asked, stepping up to them.

"Callie!" George exclaimed.

"My pally!" Fred rhymed.

"This is Calidara?" The redheaded woman asked with a small smile, an undertone of nervousness in her words.

"Yes, ma'am. You must be Fred and George's mum. It's brilliant to meet you." Callie responded, offering her hand to the woman. Mrs. Weasley took it and clasped it between her hands. "These are my parents, Jemma and Edward Nefzen."

Her parents wasted no time moving from Mrs. Weasley to Hermione's parents, who Callie introduced as Drs. Granger, ("they're dentists!") while Mrs. Weasley examined her. "Well, I don't know what you were talking about, Ronald. She doesn't look evil, to me." The woman said, smiling brightly. "I rather think your brothers are right."

"Have you gone mad, mum?" George asked in a conspiratorial tone.

"You can't say things like that aloud! You're going to ruin our reputations!" Fred finished.

Callie giggled. "Ron and Hermione don't like me, much, Mrs. Weasley. I'd like to think it's because of my family ties, but I'm sure my attitude was a contribution. I had a bad time after finding out about my birth parents and I took it out on Hermione, and Ron seems to hate anything to do with the Malfoys but that seems to come honestly." She smiled, brightly at the woman. "Of course, my uncle and cousin haven't done anything to tide those feelings!"

"Well, I suppose being raised with Muggles gave you a bit more down-to-earth humanity. Didn't mean that to sound so rude."

"Oh, I'm sure it's true. There is a reason my mum gave me the Nefzens before she went crazy on my uncle and there is a reason she went crazy on my uncle." She looked over at her parents and the Grangers being pulled into an enthusiastic conversation with Arthur Weasley. "Oh, guess my parents have made friends with your husband."

"Arthur does like Muggles. It's why he works in The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office." Mrs. Weasley said as Arthur insisted the two Muggle couples join him for a drink at the Leaky Cauldron. After confirming with Callie that she'd be all right hanging with her friends while they had a drink with Arthur, her parents went off with the redheaded man. 

"We saw Lee around earlier, I'll bet we could find him." George said, as they stepped out onto the marble steps outside Gringotts. 

"We'll all meet at Flourish and Blotts in an hour to buy your schoolbooks." Mrs. Weasley said, as Fred, George and Callie rushed toward the joke shop. "And not one step down Knockturn Alley!"

"What's Knockturn Alley?" Callie asked as they passed Quality Quidditch Supplies. "Ooh, can we go in there? Just real quick?"

"Are you going for the team this year?" Fred asked.

"I am, actually." She said, pushing open the door.

"So, what are you looking to get? Some gloves, a helmet?" George asked.

Fred picked up a pair of goggles by the door and held them up to his eyes. "A stylish pair of eye coverings?"

"A broom!" She answered, walking over to the broom racks.

"Your parents gave you enough money for a broom?" The twins asked, a bit crestfallen.

"No." She turned to them, indignantly. "I babysat my neighbor's bratty two year old all Summer, and sold my famous fudge at the farmers market every Tuesday morning, just so that I could come in here and buy a broomstick. If I buy used, I might even be able to buy a care kit for it."

Fred and George's eyes widened as she pulled out a bag of Galleons. "How good is your fudge?" They asked.

"I did say it was famous." She said, proudly. "I could make it in my sleep, I made so much of it this Summer. All so that I could buy this!" She said, walking up to a used Comet 260 sitting on a rack in the corner of the store. The tag on it read '19 Galleons'. 

"Bloody Hell, Callie. You can afford that?" Fred seemed a bit distressed.

"Barely. There's 21 Galleons in this purse." She said, admiring the broom.

"Care kit's only 10 knuts." George said, picking a kit up. 

"So you'll have plenty left for candy and fireworks." Fred snapped out of his upset to smile at her. "Well? What are your waiting for? Pick up your broom!"

"Comets are pretty good. Better than our CleanSweeps, anyway." George encouraged as the trio walked up to the register. "'Course, ours are ancient."

"Marcus Flint would be crazy not to have you on his team, you know?" 

As they walked toward the joke shop, her broom slung across her back by a thin strap, she enjoyed the jingle of her leftover money. "So, who's this git Lockhart who wrote all our Defense Against the Dark Arts books?"

"Oh, to live in the Muggle world." George responded, wistfully.

"Where that man's face isn't on everything from cookbooks to pest-control guides." Fred rolled his eyes. "He's pretty, so witches think he's brilliant."

"You'll probably fall for his wavy hair and perfect smile, too." Lee Jordan was suddenly beside them. "All the witches do."

Fred rolled his eyes again. "Callie's too smart for that."

"I dunno. Think my mum's pretty smart and she's gone mad for his books."

"So, our new teacher is a fan, which means we get to hear Lockhart's praises all year." Callie concluded.

"Unfortunately." The twins answered.

"Great."


	2. Welcome Back

An hour later, they were struggling to get into Flourish and Blotts, a line of witches in their thirties pushing and waiting impatiently to get a signed copy of Gilderoy Lockhart's autobiography. Harry was pulled to the front, where Lockhart made him pose for a photo against his will. The crowd cheered as the blue-eyed wizard gave Harry every book he'd written following an announcement that he'd be the one teaching them Defense this year.

"Hell, I hope he's a better teacher than Quirrel, or I'll have to convince Snape to tutor me, again." Callie complained before musing, "Though, I do suppose Quirrel didn't  _want_  us to defend since he  _was_  a Dark Arts practitioner."

"What a bloody narcissist." George complained. "Making us buy his books."

"Well, it  _is_  a good way to get your sales up, though. Pretty smart marketing." Callie said, as Arthur Weasley suggested they all move outside.

"Aw, it's started! She's admiring him!" George accused. Callie and Fred rolled their eyes. As the group approached Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny, Callie caught sight of light-blond hair and a mean sneer. Ron was being held back from Draco by his friends grabbing the back of his jacket.

"Ron! What are you doing?" Mr. Weasley asked. "It's too crowded in here, let's go outside."

"Well, well, well. Arthur Weasley." A new sneering blond had appeared.  _* **Never ask help of Lucius. Never meet him. He is a puppet and he will use you.***_ popped into her head as she looked at the grey-eyed man. She, almost involuntarily, turned into Fred's side, hiding. Fred wrapped his arm around her, comfortingly.

"Lucius." Arthur Weasley responded, coldly.

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear. All those raids... I hope they're paying you overtime. Obviously not. Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"

"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy."

"Clearly. The company you keep... and I thought your family could sink no lower."

Callie could tell he was talking about her and Hermione's parents, the Muggles standing on the sidelines of the interaction, and she couldn't stand for it. She tore away from Fred and stomped forward, ignoring the dark feeling flaring up and indeed letting it fuel her anger a bit. Lucius took a sharp breath as soon as his eyes fell on her. "Excuse you! Those are my  _parents_  you're talking about!" 

"Hey, Callie." Draco greeted.

Lucius went a little extra pale as he looked at her. "Melanie."

"It's 'Calidara', and right now I'm questioning the 'Malfoy'. It's no wonder where Draco gets his nastiness from. I do wish my mum hadn't got herself thrown in Azkaban, so she could've been a good influence on him. You certainly aren't."

Lucius looked properly chastised as he tossed a tattered book in Ginny's cauldron. "Here, girl. Take your book. It's the best your parents can give you." He sneered, before stepping out of the bookstore, rubbing at his left forearm. "Come along, Draco."

Draco gave a look at his father's retreating figure, then turned back to Callie. "I'm sure that wasn't the first impression he wanted to make. I'll see you on the train."

She took a deep breath as Fred and George patted her back, telling her how brilliant she was and Hermione gave her a rare, genuine smile. "I suppose it's not bad blood that's wrong with the Malfoys." Arthur Weasley mused, walking out of the bookstore. "It's learned."

Jemma Nefzen wrapped her in a hug. "You're a wonderful, beautiful, clever..."

"Mum, you're embarrassing me!" She squealed, but she didn't pull away.

"We've done a good job." Her mom said, pulling back.

"You're right." Her father agreed.

"So, that was your uncle and cousin?" Her mother continued as they waked toward the Leaky Cauldron.

"Yeah. Draco's not so bad behind closed doors, but it seems Uncle Lucius is just as bad as I've been told."

When they got to the Leaky Cauldron, she bid goodbye to Harry and the Weasleys, nodding once to Hermione before leaving. She was left silently seething once they returned to the townhouse. What a jerk! How is it possible that he was related to her? How is it possible that Malfoy blood ran through her and her mother, who was caring and upstanding? How could Lucius and Miranda be so different?

It took her several days of meditation and Occlumency to tamp down the dark feeling and anger in her, which was just in time to board the Hogwarts Express and head off. Dr. Nefzen gave her a book on Biology and promised to send fewer books this year. Mr. Nefzen just kissed her forehead and told her to write. She promised she would.

She rode in Draco's train car, telling him all about her Summer and the broom she bought. He snorted derisively at her  _used_  Comet 260. "You shouldn't have wasted your money. Father bought the Quidditch team brand new Nimbus 2001s. If we make the team, we'll be riding those."

Callie saw it for what it was, of course. Lucius had bribed Marcus Flint with shiny new racing brooms. Draco was sure to make the team. "You will be, but if I make the team, I'll be using my Comet. I earned that broom, just as sure as I'll earn my place as a Beater."

They made it to the castle and piled into a carriage that was pulled by a large skeletal-looking horse with wings. They were seated in the Great Hall with their House and waited for the Sorting Ceremony. Callie noticed Harry want at the Gryffindor table and tried to ask Fred and George where he and their brother were, but it was too loud in the Great Hall for them to hear her. She shrugged, tucking the question away for another time, along with the question of where Professor Severus Snape, Potions Master and Head of House for Slytherin, had disappeared to. 

When Ginny Weasley had the Sorting Hat on her head, it shouted out 'Gryffindor!' and Callie whooped. "Seven for Seven! Weasleys go Gryffindor! Great job, Ginny!" She encouraged, much to the chagrin of her entire House. Snape reappeared, a smile so big on his face that Callie thought he might have been hit with a laughing hex, and whispered into Professor Minerva McGonagall's ear. McGonagall's mouth became a thin line as she listened to his words and then she stood. Snape moved the game of Telephone down to Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, then led the Head of Gryffindor House out of the Great Hall. "Professor Snape!" Callie called out as he walked past.

"Welcome back, Miss Malfoy."

"You seem cheerful. Has someone died?" She asked, smiling.

"I'm sure Potter and Weasley will when their families find out they've been expelled for crashing a flying car into the Whomping Willow." Snape responded, the edges of his lips twitching happily at the sentence that left his mouth.

"What?"

"If you'll excuse me, I must go watch this." Snape walked out of the the Great Hall as Draco laughed. The rumor had crossed the Great Hall before the Sorting had even been finished, everyone whispering and laughing or looking horrified. It was a bit of a horror story for some people, that Harry Potter might be expelled, that a Weasley might be expelled, that two  _Gryffindors_  might have been expelled on the first night of school. She caught Snape looking very put out about twenty minutes later, so she knew he hadn't gotten to see what he wanted to see. "Looks like you'll have to put up with Potter this year, after all." She said, pointing Snape's expression out to Draco, who cussed under his breath.

The next morning, she had the divine pleasure of watching Ron Weasley (who she still found to be the least interesting Weasley) receive a Howler from his mother. The red envelope screamed and shouted, louder than anyone could actually manage and then it burst into flame. She was slightly upset, though, that Arthur was facing an inquiry at work thanks to their using Arthur's flying Ford Anglia. Arthur was a good man. He didn't deserve that noise.

Callie walked up to Marcus Flint after breakfast and made plans for Quidditch tryouts. Flint made it seem like she already had a spot on the team, but she shook her head. "That might be how you're doing this for Draco, but not for me. You're not putting me on the team until you determine I'm worth your time."

He nodded and told her to grab Draco and meet him at the field at 3. There was no denying she belonged on that team. As she flew around, hitting the Bludgers with her bat, she felt like she belonged there. She'd barely touched down with her Comet 260 when Marcus Flint smiled at her and said, "Welcome to the team."

She was excited for the fact that she was on the team, but her excitement didn't last long. She found that she  _hated_ Professor Lockhart. He wasn't just a narcissist, he was the biggest narcissist she'd ever met. He was 'going to take a lesson about Cornish pixies, but they all managed to get away yesterday', so he jumped into a 'little quiz about my books to see how well you've read them'. She hadn't. No one had, and of course the questions weren't about his actual exploits or the manner with which he'd defeated the yeti, the werewolf or the banshee, they were questions about  _him_. So, she did Fred and George proud by answering each question with a joke.

  1. **What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?** - _ **The color of the Bannon Banshee's wail.**_
  2. **What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?** - ** _To make it fashionable to wear teal robes with a gold-rimmed hat._**
  3. **What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?** - ** _That day that he went 5 minutes without mentioning himself._**



On and on it went, over three sides of paper, right down to:

  1. **When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday, and what would his ideal gift be?** - ** _Gilderoy Lockhart wasn't born. He was created when the Gods decided to gift the world a perfect man. But if he had a birthday, he'd love a good bottle of whiskey._**



Lockhart didn't seem to get the joke, which was most definitely on him. He, actually, somehow thought she was praising him. "Bloody hell, that man is dim." She said, exasperatedly to Draco as they left the classroom.

"I thought all witches loved him. Pansy and Millicent were almost drooling."

"Ugh, he's vile. He's not even that handsome! Blond hair and blue eyed. Boring!"

"Excuse you!" Draco exclaimed.

Callie rolled her eyes. "I don't mean you. I mean, your hair is fine, don't be self conscious. No, it's just...  _him_. How the hell did he get this job? Why couldn't Dumbledore just give it to Professor Snape? He'd do a-" She cut herself off. She knew why Severus Snape couldn't be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Dumbledore would never trust him to mold the minds of young students. Not for that. Not with the mark on his arm that still tended to twinge whenever he saw her. "Even if not Snape, there has to be someone else. Someone better. I mean, you'd never know that man was a Ravenclaw, how he acts." 

"He's better than Quirrel, though, right?" Crabbe offered.

"You're right, there. What an arsehole." 


	3. The Cat on the Lantern

Saturday morning, at just after sunup, she was walking out onto the field with the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch team. Gryffindor was already out, flying around the pitch. They didn't seem happy to see the Slytherins. "Flint!" Wood bellowed at Marcus as they stomped over. "This is our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!"

"Plenty of room for all of us, Wood." Marcus replied.

"But I booked the field! I booked it!" Oliver Wood was almost spitting with rage.

"Ah, but I've got a specially signed note here from Professor Snape. ' _I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Quidditch field owing to the need to train their new Seeker and Beater.'_ "

"You've got new players? Where?" Wood asked, distracted. The team split down the middle and the Malfoys looked up at the Gryffindors. "Aren't you Lucius Malfoy's son?" 

"Funny you should mention Draco's father. Let me show you the generous gift he's made to the Slytherin team." Every player except Calidara held out their broomstick, showcasing the gold lettering that said, 'Nimbus Two Thousand and One'. "Very latest model. Only came out last month. I believe it outstrips the old Two Thousand series by a considerable amount. As for the old Cleansweeps, sweeps the board with them." Flint's eyes flicked behind the Gryffindors. "Oh, look. A field invasion." 

"What's happening? Why aren't you playing? And what are _they_  doing here?" Ron asked, looking at Callie and Draco in their green Quidditch robes.

"I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasley, and Callie's got the second Beater spot. Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team. Good, aren't they? But perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, too. You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives; I expect a museum would bid for them." Draco taunted. The other Slytherins laughed, but Callie just shook her head.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to _buy_  their way in, _they_  got in on pure talent." Hermione said, sharply.

"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood." Draco spat.

Several things happened, all at once. Fred and George jumped at Draco, while Marcus dived in front to protect him, Alicia screamed 'How dare you!' and Ron pulled out his wand, yelling 'You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!'. The other Slytherins thought it was hilarious when Ron's broken wand backfired on him and he started to spit up slugs. Calidara waited until Harry and Hermione had pulled Ron away to Hagrid's hut and the Slytherins had let their laughter die down before she turned to her cousin and punched him in the chest.

She could tell his breath had been knocked out, but she hadn't done any real damage to him. "That is not _okay_ , Draco! Have you forgotten that I was adopted by Muggles? You think I wanna hear you talk to a Muggle-born the way you spoke to me when we first met?" She avoided the gazes of her new teammates. "I may not like Hermione Granger, but she is clever and works hard to be that way. You buy your way through life and you know it, that's why you reacted so poorly to her saying it out loud. You don't say that word around me. You shouldn't say it at all."

"Sorry. I forgot." 

"No, you didn't." She growled. She turned to the rest of the team, who were staring at her. "Are we going to play Quidditch, or not? The Gryffindors can't fight us for the field if they haven't got a Seeker to practice with." She pointed out, pushing past her team and the Gryffindor team with the stick of her broom. She gave a look to Fred and George. "Sorry about your practice." She whispered as she passed them.

~~

The next two months flew past almost as fast as her teammates on their new brooms. They'd tried, on more than one occasion, to convince her to use one of the 2001s but she refused. They already outmatched the Gryffindors' brooms without her getting on a bribe broom. The only time she rode one was when Fred and George begged to see how fast the new Nimbuses really were. She only rode to the goalposts and back, determined not to let the adrenaline rush of riding something so fast get to her. 

She started to think she might be going crazy. Every so often, she'd hear a voice. It was a whisper of cold, terrible darkness. A voice talking about killing. Of course, nobody showed up dead, so it had to be in her head... and no one else heard the voice. When Halloween came around, she was shoveling dessert into her mouth when she heard it again, and it was too much. She had to find it. She threw her napkin onto the table and rushed out, giving an excuse of going to the restroom. She ran upstairs, trying to follow the ' _kill... kill... I SMELL BLOOD!_ ' around the second floor. She didn't find the voice but she did find Filch's cat, hanging from a torch by her tail, next to foot-high words written in blood.

**THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.**

She approached it from the other side of the corridor just as Harry, Ron, and Hermione did. "You can hear it?" She whispered as Ron demanded to know why Harry had gone running after some voice they couldn't hear.

" _You_ can?" Harry asked.

They moved to leave so that they wouldn't be caught there, but it was too late. The feast was over and students were filing into the corridor from both ends. The chatter died down as everyone saw the hanging cat. And then, the silence was killed by Draco's voice, shouting, "Enemies of the heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!"

Callie was too busy worrying about being caught in front of Filch's dead cat to be upset about her cousin using that terrible word again. Her heart pounded as Filch pushed his way through the crowd and started screaming about his cat. Luckily, Filch focused on Harry, screaming in his face that he was going to kill him. 

" _Argus!_ " Albus Dumbledore to the rescue, with a number of teachers. He surveyed the scene quickly, eyes moving over the children and then rushing past them to detach Mrs. Norris from the torch. "Come with me, Argus. You, too, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, Miss Malfoy."

Lockhart offered his office up and they all followed the teachers up there. Dumbledore examined and attempted to revive the cat, while Filched sobbed and Lockhart went on and on about how she must've been killed by this or that curse and he could've used this or that countercurse to stop it. The four second year students stood nervously for what seemed like forever before Dumbledore straightened and looked over at the caretaker. "She's not dead, Argus."

"Not dead? But why's she all-all stiff and frozen?"

"She has been petrified. But how, I cannot say."

"Ask _him_!" Filch shrieked at Harry.

"No second year could have done this." said Dumbledore firmly. "It would take Dark Magic of the most advanced-"

"He did it, he did it! You saw what he wrote on the wall! He found, in my office, he knows I'm a- I'm a- He knows I'm a Squib!"

"I never _touched_  Mrs. Norris! And I don't even know what a Squib _is_!"

"Rubbish! He saw my Kwikspell letter!"

"If I might speak, Headmaster." Snape moved out of the shadows of Lockhart's office and Callie should've felt relieved, but she didn't and she knew the Gryffindors were likely feeling worse. "Potter and his friends may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but we do have a set of suspicious circumstances. Why was he in the upstairs corridor at all? Why wasn't he at the Halloween feast?"

The Gryffindors went into an explanation of a deathday party held by Sir Nick, ending with 'there were hundreds of ghosts who'll tell you we were there'. Callie just shrugged. "I _was_  at the Halloween feast. Draco will vouch for me, as well as the Weasley twins, who hit me with a glob of whipped cream. I left during pudding because I had to use the lavatory." 

"But why not join the feast afterward? Why go up to that corridor?" Snape asked.

Ron and Hermione looked to Harry, who looked at Callie. She hadn't admitted to hearing the voice and he must have suddenly realized that she was right not to, that it would sound far-fetched that they'd been led there by a voice that only the two of them could hear, because he answered with 'Because we were tired and wanted to go to bed.'

"Without any supper? I didn't think ghosts provided food fit for living people at their parties." Snape trained his focus on Harry.

"We weren't hungry." Ron lied, as his stomach gave a growl that gave him away. 

Snape smiled, nastily. "I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter is not being entirely truthful. It might be a good idea if he were deprived of certain privileges until he is ready to tell us the whole story. I personally feel he should be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until he is ready to be honest."

"Really, Severus. I see no reason to stop the boy playing Quidditch. This cat wasn't hit over the head with a broomstick. There is no evidence at all that Potter has done anything wrong." Professor McGonagall defended.

Dumbledore examined Harry. "Innocent until proven guilty, Severus."

Snape and Filch looked furious. "My cat has been Petrified! I want to see some _punishment_!" 

"We will be able to cure her, Argus. Professor Sprout recently managed to procure some Mandrakes. As soon as they have reached their full size, I will have a potion made that will revive Mrs. Norris." Dumbledore said, patiently.

"I'll make it." Lockhart butted in. "I must have done it a hundred times. I could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep-"

"Excuse me, but I believe I am the Potions Master at this school." Snape said, coldly.

"You may go." Dumbledore told the students.

They all moved to leave, but Snape's hand grabbed the back of Callie's robes. "Not you, Miss Malfoy. My office." Harry stopped at the door to make sure she was okay, but she gave him a small smile as Snape pulled her out the other side of Lockhart's office. "What were you doing in that corridor, Calidara?"

"You wouldn't believe me." She responded.

"Try me."

She took a deep breath and looked at her Head of House, the teacher for who she was the TA, the man who used to be a Death Eater and has been helping her learn the one skill that might save her from her father if ever he returned... and lied. "I heard Harry's voice and wanted to ask him a question about his first Quidditch game, as I've been quite nervous about mine. I heard him on the second floor, didn't know where, so I went searching. We ended up in front of Mrs. Norris at the same time from opposite ends of the corridor. She was already petrified when we arrived."

"You are lying to me."

"Well, you would know all about lying, wouldn't you?" She stepped away from the man in black. "I'm not lying. You can Legilimens me, if you want. If not, I'd like to go to bed."

"You're not curious?" Snape asked as she put her hand on the doorknob. She turned to him, eyebrows tucked together. "The Chamber of Secrets. It's bound to be _the_  topic of discussion for the next few weeks." Callie was tired, she wanted to get to sleep... but she _did_ want to know. She sighed and moved to lean against the door. She couldn't lean against the walls, as they were lined with glass jars on shelves. Snape seemed happy to keep her awake. "You know, of course, that the school was founded more than a thousand years ago by a quartet of great witches and wizards. Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. They built the castle together, hid it from the eyes of prying Muggles because it was founded during the Burning Times. They worked well together for many years, finding young witches and wizards who needed to be taught. Unfortunately for the school, Slytherin began to pull away from the others. He wanted the school to be more selective about the students admitted."

"Pure-bloods. I've caught that _theme_ in Slytherin House."

"Yes. He believed that magical learning should be kept to all-magic families. He thought the Muggles were untrustworthy, which makes sense with how witches and wizards were persecuted, especially in Slytherin's day." Snape leaned against the edge of his desk. "Eventually, Slytherin and Gryffindor got into a serious argument about it and Slytherin left the school. The story goes that Slytherin built a hidden chamber somewhere in the castle that the other founders didn't know about. They said he sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. Only his heir would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the beast within, and use it to purge the school of the unworthy."

Callie swallowed. "The beast would... kill all of the Muggle-borns?"

Snape smirked. "You of course, as a Malfoy, wouldn't need to worry." 

"Is this a face of worry? Or one of horror?" She spat out. "I figured Slytherin was mad, but I didn't know how far that went."

"At least your friends are pure-bloods."

"And none of us care about that!" She almost shouted. She looked down and grabbed the door handle. "I have to go meditate. Happy Halloween, Professor."


	4. Dueling Club

It wasn't long before the whole school was talking about the Chamber... and the Heir. It did seem that the students were fractured on who the Heir might be. She heard some Ravenclaws saying they thought it might be Draco, but most of the others seemed to think it was Harry. Of course, everyone else thought it was her. With her father being who he was, she could understand that, though she wasn't happy about it. What she couldn't understand was how anyone in their right mind could think it was Harry. Harry bleeding Potter, who was the son of a Muggle-born. Honestly, Draco made more sense than either her or Harry. 

"I mean, your father kinda puts you at the top of the list." George said, one day, as they studied in the library. She was trying to help George with his Transfiguration homework. It was  _not_  his best subject. "But I think Harry's getting picked on for proximity and spite."

"Oh, 'cause he's famous and people wanna see him fail? I've got that, but still. It's... the most absolutely ridiculous thing anyone could've thought of. When Filch said it was Harry that Petrified Mrs. Norris, I almost laughed."

"Good thing you didn't. He probably would've come after you." She nodded. George was right. "So... nervous about the game?"

Callie could tell he was trying to stall. He hated Transfiguration and he hated homework. "George, come on. You have to get this down. Hedgehog to pincushion, come on."

"Can you show me again?" He asked. "And I'm legitimately interested in your feelings about the game. How have the practices been going?"

"Marcus said I'm not supposed to talk to you about them." She looked around. "But we're gonna kick your arses. Between those brooms and my skills and Marcus' general nastiness... Gryffindor doesn't stand a chance." She taunted, jokingly.

"Oh, it's on."

Thinking about Quidditch helped her ignore the voice that only two people could hear and the Petrified cat and the Chamber of Secrets. She wished she could talk to Harry about it, but Ron and Hermione had a habit of pulling him away every time they saw her approach, even going so far as to push Harry under the Gryffindor table if she tried to talk to him at meals. She knew they thought it was her or Draco that Petrified the cat. A Malfoy made sense and she'd been in the second floor corridor, too.

But she just wanted to talk to Harry, find out how many times he'd heard it, what he'd heard it say, when it started... 

The next time she got to see him without his entourage was the Saturday of their first Quidditch match against each other. As Madam Hooch made her speech about playing fair and following rules and making the team captains shake hands, she looked across to Harry. "All right, Harry?"

He nodded. "All right, Callie?"

She nodded. "Can we talk after the match? You know, before your friends hide you away again?"

"Yeah. I've been wanting to talk to you since... You know."

She nodded. She knew exactly when. "After the game. Good luck."

"Good luck, Callie."

It didn't take long for Calidara to realize, as they flew through the rain, that one of the Bludgers was suspiciously focused on Harry. She hit the other one toward the Gryffindor team repeatedly, one time causing it to hit Angelina Johnson as she was about to score. But the other Bludger just wouldn't stop following Harry. The score was 60 to 0, with Slytherin leading, when Gryffindor called a timeout and they all landed. "Did you guys do something to the Bludger?" She asked, quietly. Her team shook their heads, but the Gryffindors were pointing at the Slytherin team. They restarted the game and Harry started flying as fast as he could, getting out of the way of the single-minded Bludger, but eventually, it hit him. Even through the rain, even with her dealing with the other Bludger, even with six Nimbus 2001s speeding around her, she could hear the sickening crack of Harry's arm breaking. 

And then, Harry flew as fast as he could at Draco, and Draco dodged and then Harry was flopping to the mud with a gold ball in his good hand. Callie jumped off of her broom as Harry fainted and Lee Jordan announced a Gryffindor win of 60-150. The Gryffindor team (minus Fred and George, who were wrestling with the wonky Bludger to get it into the box) filled in around Harry as Callie tried to shake him awake. He was just starting to wake up when Lockhart pushed in next to her. "Oh, no, not you." Harry groaned.

"Doesn't know what he's saying. Not to worry, Harry. I'm about to fix your arm." Lockhart said, loudly.

"No!" Callie and Harry both protested.

"I'll keep it like this, thanks." Harry tried to sit up, but the pain was too much. The first year boy with the camera obsession started to take pictures of Harry, who said, loudly, "I don't want a photo of this, Colin."

"Lie back, Harry. It's a simple charm I've used countless times-" Lockhart said, soothingly.

"Why can't I just go to the hospital wing?"

"He really should, Professor Lockhart." Callie tried, but Lockhart ignored her as Oliver Wood started to talk about how amazing it was that Harry had caught the Snitch and it must have been his best capture yet. 

"No- don't-" Harry tried, but Lockhart twirled his wand anyway... and Harry's arm literally deflated. Lockhart looked shocked at the result of the spell and cleared his throat, telling Harry to go to Madam Pomfrey and handing him off to Ron and Hermione, who looked at Callie like it had been her doing.

"You should have let Harry go to Madam Pomfrey from the get, Professor." She growled, slightly. Her anger was getting to her. She hadn't had a successful Occlumency lesson since Halloween and her meditations were being encroached upon by the murder voice and the dark part of her that always seemed to flare up whenever she heard it.

"Well, dear girl, even I make mistakes. Though, not very often."

She rolled her eyes. "I usually give respect where it's due, Professor, but you will excuse me when I say that you're a bloody idiot and someone should take your wand away before you do any  _more_  damage." Callie growled, grabbing her Comet 260 and stomping off of the field. Lockhart and that stupid Bludger had cut her off from being able to talk to Harry,  _again_. 

Marcus wasn't even off of the field before he was tearing into Draco for missing the Snitch when it was flying right next to his head. 

"Sorry about the loss, Callie." Fred and George said, running up on either side of her.

"That's not- That stupid Bludger and my stupid cousin. How the heck did Harry manage to-" She shook her head and took a deep breath. "You guys did a great job and it was a well-deserved win." She finished.

"What's up? You seem on edge. I mean, it was a bit brilliant how you talked to Lockhart, but it's not like you to snap at a teacher."

They stopped outside the locker rooms and Callie bit her lip before responding to George's inquiry. "This Chamber of Secrets thing is getting to me... and I was going to talk to Harry about it, because we've both been targeted by the rumor mill, but now because of that stupid Bludger and Lockhart's complete lack of any sort of magical prowess, I'm not gonna be able to talk to him because your brother and that mess of brown hair they're friends with think  _I'm_ the heir and won't let me anywhere near him! After the game was gonna be the only time I could get him apart from them!"

The twins looked at each other, then laughed. "It's not you  _or_ Harry. Might be one of your housemates." Fred wrapped her in a hug. "Don't worry about it."

"Of course I'm worried about it! How could I not be? I may not have a lot of Muggle-born friends, but... the thought that someone might be setting a monster on children... and that I'm being blamed for it... and I can't think lately and I think it's stress from all this and..." Amazingly, that stress was wavering. Her mind was clearing and her blood pressure leveling out, and her neck and cheeks went pink when she realized that it might just be because Fred Weasley was hugging her.

"Well, who wants to think, anyway? Thinking never did anyone any good." George joked.

"You know what we should do?" Fred started, pulling away, but not releasing the hug. "We should take her to Honeydukes. Some sweets will make everything better."

"Honeydukes? Is that in Hogsmeade? You know I can't go there, yet. Not 'til next year." 

The twins laughed. "You can if no one knows you're going." They said.

"Wait. What?"

"We'll tell you all about it tomorrow, okay? Have a shower, get some rest, you'll need it for tomorrow." Fred gave her a squeeze, then released her, and she was left confused.

~~

When Calidara met with the twins the next day, they pulled out a piece of parchment and opened it. It was blank. "What's this?"

"This is a secret weapon." George responded. 

"It's a map."

"Doesn't look like much of a map. There's nothing on it." Callie responded.

"Ah, there's nothing on it  _now_ , but take out your wand." Fred encouraged. Callie raised her eyebrow at him as she did as she was told. "Now, tap the parchment and say the words, 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good'."

She tapped the parchment with the tip of her wand. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." She scoffed as the map slowly filled out across the paper. "Bloody hell. That's us!" She exclaimed, pointing to their names on the paper. 

"Right. It shows the whole school-" George started.

"And the grounds-"

"And all the secret passageways. Including this one, 'The One-eyed Witch Tunnel', takes you straight to the cellar at Honeydukes Sweets Shoppe." George finished.

"You- you mean to take me through this tunnel to the cellar of the sweets shop in Hogsmeade?"

Fred and George shook their heads. "Not today. We'll take you when the teachers aren't so on edge. We did sneak out yesterday and got you this." Fred pulled out a bag and handed it to her. "We weren't sure exactly what to get you. So, we took a chance on Chocoballs and Chocolate Frogs."

Callie tore the bag open. It was full of chocolate. "Chocoballs are my favorites!" She exclaimed, pulling one out and biting into it. 

"Told you." Fred said, tossing a look of pride at his brother. "George wanted to get you Every Flavor Beans and Fizzing Whizzbees."

Callie swallowed and licked her lips. "Bertie Bott's makes me nervous and Fizzing Whizzbees are made with Billywig stingers, so no, thank you... but chocolate's the way to a girl's heart, you know."

"Good. You better?" George asked, reaching over to pick up the map. Callie nodded, taking another bite of the Chocoball. "Mischief managed." He said, tapping the map. The ink faded, quickly.

"Wicked." She said, her mouth full of chocolate, strawberry filling and clotted cream. "So, what's got the teachers all up in arms today?"

The twins looked like they weren't sure if they should answer. "Have another Chocoball." George instructed.

"Why?"

"Because a first year Muggle-born was found Petrified last night." He answered.

"What?!" She exclaimed. Fred picked up the bag of chocolates and handed it to her. "Wh-who? Where?"

"Colin Creevey. He was one of ours." Fred answered.

"Oh, geez. That annoying little... probably shouldn't let anybody hear me call him that."

"No, he was. But worst of it is that everyone knows how Harry felt about him." George said.

"Great, so I really need to talk to Harry, now. Is he out of the hospital, yet?" She asked, standing.

"Yeah, but-" Fred scrambled to his feet. "Today's supposed to be about relaxing, remember?"

"I know, but..."

"We'll get Harry alone for you tomorrow, okay?" George offered.

Callie sighed and flopped down on the grass next to them. "Okay. Want a Chocolate Frog?" She offered, pulling three out of the bag.

~~

The next day, after classes, George asked Hermione for help with his Transfiguration homework and Fred asked Ron for help cheering up Ginny, who was absolutely distraught about her classmate, Colin, being Petrified. Fred slipped a note to Harry before heading off with Ron and Harry met Callie at the Quidditch pitch. "Harry!"

"It really shouldn't be so hard to meet with a friend." Harry rolled his eyes as he stepped over to sit next to her in the stands.

"Everything is much harder than it should be these days, but that might just be the fact that our brains aren't working as well as they should."

"I  _have_  been distracted." Harry responded. "Because of the voice."

"Exactly! When did you first hear it?" 

"First Saturday, when I was doing my detention with Lockhart. It said something about 'Hungry for long'..."

"'Let me rip you'. It said, 'Let me kill you'. So, how often have you heard it?"

"Only twice, you?"

"Five." Callie looked down, wondering why she'd heard it more than him. "And it's always 'kill, kill, blood, kill', it messes with my head every time." 

Harry nodded. "So... what do you know about the Chamber of Secrets? Do you know who's opened it?"

She shook her head. "I only know what Professor Snape told me about it. The other Slytherins won't talk about it around me. I know you think it was Draco, and Ron and Hermione probably think it was  _me_ but I couldn't tell you who  _actually_ opened it or what the voice actually is. Whatever it is, it's evil."

"Did you know that the Chamber had been opened before?"

"No, I didn't. When?"

"Fifty years ago. A bunch of Muggle-born students were Petrified back then, too."

"I hadn't heard. Do you think the teachers are just keep it from us... trying to keep us from freaking out?"

"Probably. But here's the thing, Callie, we need to know what the Slytherin students are saying behind closed doors."

"I told you, Harry, they aren't talking about it around me."

"I know... and they won't talk to me, either, but what if they didn't know that they were talking to me?"

Callie looked at him blankly for a moment before nodding. "Hermione got her hands on ' _Moste Potente Potions_ ', then? Polyjuice potion needs Bicorn horn and Boomslang skins, neither of which are easy to come by."

"Easier for the Potions TA." Harry suggested with a hopeful smile.

"And who are the three of you planning to become?"

"Crabbe, Goyle and... Hermione was going to be you but if they aren't being open with you, then it'll have to be someone else. Can you get us what we need?"

"Of course I can, Harry. I do Snape's inventories, so I can make it seem like the items were never there. But you _have_ to tell me what you find out. It's driving me mad." Harry nodded. He understood, completely. "I'll get the ingredients for you. Thursday, I'll give them to you."

"Thank you, Callie."

~~

Callie got the ingredients and handed them over to Harry before the first meeting of the dueling club. She stood with Draco in the Great Hall, waiting for the teachers to show up. She was happy to see Snape walk into the Hall but rolled her eyes at the plum robes of Gilderoy Lockhart. "Of course Lockhart can't keep his hands off of anything fun in this school."

"Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent! Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions- for full details, see my published works. Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape. He tells me he knows a tiny bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin." Callie snorted at that. Severus Snape definitely knew more than 'a tiny bit' about dueling. She was hoping he would show Lockhart a thing or two. "Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry- you'll still have your Potions Master when I'm through with him, never fear!"

Snape sneered at Lockhart and Callie smirked as they stood opposite one another in the middle of the Hall. Lockhart gave a flowery bow and Snape simply jerked his head at him, then they raised their wands. "As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position. On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."

"It'd be so nice if Snape would." Callie whispered to Draco.

"One- two- three-" Lockhart counted. They both raised their wands above their heads and Snape shouted ' _Expelliarmus_!'. There was a flash of red light and Lockhart was blasted off of the stage so hard he hit the wall. Callie was the only girl who laughed, the others cooed with worry. Lockhart stood unsteadily and climbed back up onto the platform. "Well, there you have it! That was a Disarming Charm- as you see, I've lost my wand, ah thank you Miss Brown- yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy- however, I felt it would instructive to let them see..." 

Lockhart looked away from the murderous face Snape was giving him. "Enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me-" 

Snape walked up to her first. "Who do you want?" He asked, lowly.

"Give me Weasley. I've been wanting to toss him across a room for a year an' a half now." She whispered.

Snape nodded, walking over to Ron and Harry. "Time to split up the dream team, I think. Weasley, you can partner Miss Malfoy."

"Wait, but-"

"No arguments. Mr. Malfoy, come over here. Let's see what you make of the famous Potter. And you, Miss Granger- you can partner Miss Bulstrode."

Ron looked at Callie nervously as his friends faced off with  _their_  Slytherin opponents. "You know, I'm not nearly as heinous as you seem to think I am, Ron."

"Is that right?" Ron obviously didn't believe her.

"You must not think much of your friend and brothers' judgement."

"My brothers make poor decisions all the time."

"But they've never flown a car into the Whomping Willow." She shot back.

"Face your partners! And bow!" Callie bowed, but Ron just nodded. Wands at the ready! When I count to three, cast your charms to Disarm your opponents-  _only_  to disarm them- we don't want any accidents- one... two... three!"

Callie Disarmed Ron easily, knocking him back with his broken wand flying out of his hand but not even knocking him off of his feet. Of course, Harry and Draco were throwing actual dueling charms at each other with the intent of hurting one another. Lockhart was trying his hardest to calm the situation, but he failed, so Snape took charge, shouting ' _Finite Incantatem!_ ' Then Lockhart said it might be a better idea to start teaching how to block unfriendly spells and Snape pulled Draco and Harry up onto the platform. Lockhart tried to show Harry how to block the spell, but he just ended up dropping his wand and Harry was left not knowing what to do.

So, of course, when Draco used  _Serpentsortia,_ Harry just watched the long black snake slither across the stage. There were screams and people shuffling backward from the stage, but Callie stood strong next to the platform. "Don't move, Potter. I'll get rid of it." Snape offered, lazily.

"Allow me!" Lockhart shouted, pulling his wand out and pointing it at the snake. There was a loud bang and the snake flew 10 feet into the air before falling back to the platform, hissing in rage. It slithered straight at a Hufflepuff named Justin.

Harry stomped forward. "Leave him alone!" Harry demanded... and miraculously, the snake slumped to the floor and went completely docile, staring at Harry. Everyone went silent.

"What do you think you're playing at?" Justin shouted, before turning and storming out of the Great Hall. 

Callie couldn't understand why everyone was staring at Harry like he'd done something wrong. Even Snape, as he made the snake vanish, stared at Harry with a cold, calculating look. Ron and Hermione pulled Harry out of the Great Hall by his clothes and Callie looked around. "Potter's a Parselmouth!" went across the the room.

"What's a Parselmouth?" She asked, walking over to Snape.

"What do you mean? It's someone who speaks snake language." Draco said, walking up to them. "Like Potter  _just did_."

Callie looked down. She hadn't heard snake language. She'd heard Harry say 'Leave him alone'. Did that mean she was a Parselmouth, too? "Well, why's that so shock-worthy?"

"Parselmouths are exceedingly rare." Snape answered, quietly. "And most Parselmouths on record have been Dark Wizards." He said, pointedly. Callie's stomach dropped into her abs. 'Dark Wizard' meant Voldemort. Her father was a Parselmouth. She'd understood what Harry said to the snake because she's a Parselmouth, too. She swallowed. What did that mean?


	5. Follow the Spiders

Callie couldn't deal with people talking about Harry like he'd set the snake after Justin Finch-Fletchley. "You're stupid. You know that, right?" She growled at a group of Hufflepuffs in the Great Hall entrance. They looked at her nervously. "The snake backed down after he spoke to it. The snake, which he didn't summon, backed  _down._ If he'd wanted it to hurt Justin, it would have."

"There's never been a good wizard who spoke Serpent." A stout boy responded.

"And have you met many wizards who speak Serpent?" She asked, a cruel smile twisting the corners of her lips up. They looked around at each other. "So you just know what Professor Binns has said in History of Magic, or what your families have told you. You don't actually know anything about Parselmouths... and you don't know what Harry said. None of you do."

"I think he-"

"No. You're not thinking. You're not thinking, at all, because if you were you'd have put it together that Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, the one whose best friend is a bloody Muggle-born is not the Heir of Slytherin! He's not even  _in_  Slytherin!"

Of course, her arguments fizzled a bit after Harry was found literally standing over Justin Finch-Fletchley's Petrified body. People said he'd been caught 'red-handed', though if that were true it was some sort miracle he hadn't been sent to Azkaban to rot with her mother. She stopped trying to defend him and felt the Weasley twins had the right idea in overdramatically acting like he  _was_ the heir. It was as much a joke to them that Harry might be evil as it should have been to any person who knew him. Nevertheless, when it came time to leave for Christmas holidays, she jumped at the opportunity.

"Harry, I'm going home for Christmas. Not because I'm scared, like the rest of this lot, but I need a bit of... normal Muggle sanity, you know?" She said at the end of Potions two weeks before Christmas break. "If my calculations are right and Hermione's execution is correct, your investigative tool should be done about Christmastime. I expect Hedwig with your findings by New Year's."

Harry nodded. He knew it was driving her mad, too, even if she wasn't being targeted as much as him, anymore. She didn't mention what was happening at the school to her parents, or the fact that she could actually understand snakes. Or the voice. No, she just relished the safety and normality of the Nefzen's townhouse. When Christmas actually came along, she woke to find the severe-looking owl perched on the back of the sofa, next to Hedwig. A brown puff of feathers lay barely breathing at their feet. Aside from the presents her parents got her, there were three extra boxes. The Weasley twins had sent her fireworks and Chocoballs. Harry sent her a new quill with an eagle feather, and Draco sent her a book about famous witches and wizards.

A few days later, Hedwig was back, with a letter.

 

_Callie, We were successful getting some information out of Draco. He's definitely not the Heir, but he does agree with the work they're doing. He said some terrible things about you, too. Said you're not worth the name and that you're worse than Ron. He talks about you like you're a burden. I thought you should know that. Also, we found out that when the Chamber of Secrets was opened before, a Muggle-born girl died. And Hermione is in hospital but it's not because of the Chamber. She put cat hair in her Polyjuice potion, so she's sort of half cat for the next few weeks. _

_Hope you had a good Christmas. See you when you get back._

_H. Potter_

 

Callie laughed a bit at Hermione with a tail, but sighed when she thought about Draco. She knew he only liked her on special occasions, that she annoyed him with her progressive pro-Muggle views. She knew that he would never associate with her if she weren't family. Nevertheless, she did enjoy having blood family. She did enjoy the random bits of knowledge she managed to gain about her family. When she got back to Hogwarts, she met up with the Weasley twins. She held out a toy mouse. "I got this for Hermione. Think she'll like it?"

They thought it was hilarious, but suggested she send it up anonymously. Harry told Callie the next day that Hermione hadn't thought it was very funny and she'd actually been quite unhappy about it. Callie still thought it was funny. A few days later, Harry showed her a small black diary that someone had tried to flush in the second floor girl's bathroom. It was empty, but for the first page which read ' _Property of T.M. Riddle_ '. Harry told her he'd been compelled to hang onto it, even knowing there was nothing in it, and that he'd been told that T.M. Riddle had been given an award for special services to the school 50 years ago, back when the Chamber was open before. She knew what Harry meant about being compelled to keep the diary. She almost didn't give it back to him.

When Valentine's Day came around, Lockhart decked the entire Great Hall out in pink, which matched his robes. It made Callie want to gag. He sent a bunch of dwarfs around, dressed as cupids, to hand out peoples' valentines. It wasn't a very well-received idea, except among Lockhart's fangirls, but the idea of sending an anonymous valentine to someone sort of appealed to her. She approached one in the hallway after breakfast. "I do hope Lockhart is paying you handsomely for this."

"We wouldn't be doin' it if 'e weren't." The dwarf grumbled. "What you got?"

"Here. Just take this to the Transfiguration classroom at 10, and here's 5 sickles, because I'm certain Lockhart isn't paying you enough." She said, handing the dwarf a card and 5 silver pieces. At lunch, Callie noticed George looking a little down. "What's wrong, George?"

"Oh, he's just upset 'cause I got a card and he didn't." Fred answered, smiling.

"If you can call it that. It's just a piece of parchment with a charm to change the font and color of the words every time he opens it." George complained.

Fred smiled. He pulled out a piece of parchment and unfolded it. "It's orange this time. ' _Fred, who would have thought I'd fall for a ginger?_ ' It's so beautiful in its simplicity."

"And in the fact that I didn't get one." George grumbled. "He's been shoving the thing in my face all morning."

"Now, just to find out who sent it." Fred folded it back and put it in the pocket of his robes.

"Whoever it is, they're blind. George is  _obviously_ the cute twin." Callie joked. "Well, it's gotta be a Gryffindor, right? Well, maybe not, 'cause your lot is supposed to be brave, right, and sending an anonymous note is quite the opposite. Well, it's definitely not a Slytherin. We're not allowed to fancy anyone. They take that away to make room for ruthless cunning. Have you ever met a Ravenclaw that could take her face out of a book long enough to have a conversation with you? Then that probably leaves the Hufflepuffs, but I'm not sure if you are nice enough to attract a girl like that, so... maybe it's a prank." 

"No." Fred put the note up to his face and inhaled, deeply. "This smells like the inside of a girl's bag. It's not a prank. It's just a girl too shy to admit it." He looked at Callie for a minute, then turned to George. "Bet it's Angelina."

"Angelina's never been shy a day in her life." George spat back.

"Let me know when you find the poor, deluded girl." Callie said, walking away.

~~

Harry came to her the next day and told her that he'd figured out how to make the diary work. "Ink disappears from it. It... I guess it absorbs it, but there're memories in it, Tom Riddle's memories. Memories of the last time the Chamber was opened... and he showed me his memory."

"And?" She asked, leaning forward in her TA desk. Harry had come to Potions early to talk to her and Harry never came to Potions early, so it must be important.

"And it was Hagrid. Fifty years ago, that's why he was expelled, because he opened the Chamber."

Callie couldn't hold back the obnoxious snort that erupted from her. "Hagrid?! Are you mad? Hagrid's not the Heir!"

"You know how much Hagrid likes giant animals." Harry  argued, but it was half-hearted. He didn't want to believe it.

"Yes, I know three-headed dogs and dragons, but come on! Hagrid's a sweetheart. He would never intentionally hurt anyone, definitely not based on their blood status. He doesn't care about any of that."

Harry looked relieved. "I guess you're right. Tom Riddle might've got the wrong monster and the Heir used Hagrid's expulsion as an opportunity to stop while people were focused on Hagrid."

"A huge, not-very-articulate kid who's got an obsession with monsters? That's a perfect patsy, there."

"You're right. Somebody set Tom Riddle up to find Hagrid and his creature so that he'd get in trouble instead."

"Probably." Callie nodded as Snape entered the room. "Look, it's probably a sore subject so I wouldn't ask him about it if you don't have to."

"Mr. Potter, so nice of you to join us early. Your enthusiasm is infectious. I'd thank you to take  _your_  seat." Snape instructed. Harry gave a nod, then scrambled to his seat.

~~

Callie was excited for third year. She was not, at all, stressed about picking electives. Care of Magical Creatures was a must, Divination seemed fun, but Arithmancy looked challenging. She tried to hold back from giving unsolicited advice but when she came upon Neville literally pulling his hair out, staring at the pamphlet, she sat next to him on the stairs. "Go with Muggles Studies. People say it's easy, but that's because it's not dangerous and Professor Burbage is incredibly nice. Care of Magical Creatures is a bit dangerous, but ask anyone who's taken it; it's brilliant, and I'm sure you need a tough one to satisfy your family. I'd go with Arithmancy. It's numbers. Nothing scary. I've signed up for it. So, if you ever need help..."

"Why are you being nice to me?" Neville gave her a look. "I mean, after I burned you last year."

Callie smiled. "That potion explosion could've happened to anyone, and you're not very good at Potions. I should've been paying better attention. Look, you don't have to take my advice on this..." She stood. "Don't stress about it. It's just Third year electives. I've heard of people taking O.W.L.s for classes they signed up for as Fifth year students and going to N.E.W.T. in them."

"Yeah, but I bet those people were clever." Neville grumbled.

"You say that like you aren't clever."

"I'm basically a Squib." Neville responded.

"Oh, shut up with that. You know what I think your  _real_  problem is? I think you're afraid to shine."

"What's that mean?"

"Neville, you're afraid to be like your parents. You're afraid to be like them because of how they ended up." She chewed on her lips before looking down at him. "My father killed them, didn't he?"

"No." Neville looked uncomfortable as he folded the pamphlet up. "His followers did worse. They tortured them for days."

"I'm very sorry, Neville." She sighed. "But I'm not wrong. There's cleverness and magic in you, and I'm not just talkin' 'bout your blood. You're a smart kid."

"Thanks, Calidara."

~~

It was a few weeks later on a Saturday, as she pondered over why only two people could hear the monster, that she slapped her forehead in frustration. It was so obvious! She went seeking Hermione in the library, certain she was looking into the monster, again. Callie took a deep breath, then walked up to her, sitting down next to Hermione among a large stack of books. "It's a snake." She whispered to the Gryffindor.

Hermione just looked up at her, annoyed, for a moment before placing a piece of parchment in the book she was reading and looking up at her. "What?"

"The monster, what's in the Chamber, only Harry and I can hear it, right? I probably shouldn't tell you this because you already think I'm evil, but... Harry and I can hear it because we automatically understand its language, everyone else just hears hissing."

"You're a Parselmouth, too?!" Hermione exclaimed a little too loud. "You heard what Harry told the snake about Justin. You could've defended him!"

"I  _did_ defend him! I told everyone that the snake backed down. Look, Ididn't know about Parselmouths until Dueling Club and I wasn't about to tell everyone I was one when they were all already freaking out about Harry being able to do it." Callie sighed. "Just look at snake monsters, okay? I'm going to the Quidditch match." She got up and went to the Quidditch pitch.

She had just gotten comfortable in the seat next to Draco when Professor McGonagall ran/marched across the field with a large purple megaphone. "This match has been canceled." The stadium erupted in boos but Callie just stood and rushed out of the stands. Something bad must have happened to cause them to drop a major Quidditch match. She made it up to the hospital wing just in time to watch Madame Pomfrey pull a blanket up around Hermione Granger. Callie gasped, catching Pomfrey's attention. She pushed Callie out of the infirmary, but Callie just stood outside the door to the hospital. 

"This will be a bit of a shock. There has been another attack... another  _double_  attack." Professor McGonagall's voice hit her. Callie gave Harry a look of pity as McGonagall pushed open the door and Ron and Harry pushed in behind her. 

" _Hermione_!" Ron groaned. 

"They were found near the library. I don't suppose either of you can explain this? It was on the floor next to them..." Callie looked in to see McGonagall holding up a small, circular mirror. She saw the boys shake their heads. "I will escort you back to Gryffindor Tower. I need to address the students in any case." McGonagall walked them out of the room, stopping to look at Callie. "Miss Malfoy, I'd have you go to the Slytherin Common Room, please. It's not safe to be in the Halls."

"I think it's probably safer for  _her_." Ron growled.

"Oh, stuff it, Ronnie. I'm so tired of your shit." She growled back.

"Watch your language, Miss Malfoy, and be nice, Mr. Weasley. She is not the one causing this. That much, I am sure."

Callie bit her lip. At least McGonagall didn't think she was evil. She put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "I'm so sorry about Hermione. She's the best of your best friends." Callie said, before walking away toward the dungeons. She arrived in the Slytherin Common Room just in time to hear Snape giving an announcement to the whole of Slytherin House.

"All students will return to their House common rooms by six o'clock in the evening. No student is to leave the dormitories after that time. You will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No student is to use the bathroom unaccompanied by a teacher. All further Quidditch training and matches are to be postponed. There will be no more evening activities." Snape rolled up the parchment he'd been reading from to give a look around the Slytherins. Of course, none of them were worried, more upset about the loss of their extracurriculars than the Petrification of Hermione Granger and Penelope Clearwater. "Don't argue. It won't look good for any of you." Snape added, before walking out.

~~~

It was across the school by the next morning that Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts, had been arrested and sent to Azkaban for his involvement in the opening of the Chamber of Secrets and that Albus Dumbledore had been removed from his position for inability to keep students safe. "Oh, that's goblin shit. No way was it Hagrid." Callie complained.

"Exactly. But I'm not mad about Dumbledore being sent away." Draco responded.

"Of course, you're not. Way I hear it, your father is the one who chased Dumbledore out." 

"Yes, he did." Draco said, proudly. Callie had to walk away from her cousin at that point. When Potions class came along, she stayed away from the Slytherin side of the class. "I always thought Father might be the one who got rid of Dumbledore. I've told you he thinks Dumbledore's the worst headmaster the school's ever had. Maybe we'll get a decent headmaster now. Someone who won't  _want_  the Chamber of Secrets closed. McGonagall won't last long, she's only filling in..." 

Callie rolled her eyes as Snape swept through the room. "Sir. Sir, why don't you apply for the headmaster's job?" Draco asked.

"Now, now, Malfoy, Professor Dumbledore has only been suspended by the governors. I daresay he'll be back with us soon enough."

"Yeah, right. I expect you'd have Father's vote, sire, if you wanted to apply for the job. I'll tell Father you're the best teacher here, sir." 

"Brown-nose!" Callie pretended to cough.

"I'm quite surprised the Mudbloods haven't all packed their bags by now. Bet you five Galleons the next one dies. Pity it wasn't Granger."

Ron jumped up as the bell rang and Harry and Dean hung onto his arms as everyone grabbed their belongings. "Let me at him. I don't care. I don't need my wand. I'm going to kill him with my bare hands."

"Doubt it." Callie said, stomping past with her hands full of books. She was disgusted when she got to Defense class. Lockhart seemed to think the school was safe now that Hagrid had been arrested, because 'the Minister of Magic wouldn't have arrested him if he hadn't done it'. Callie scoffed. "Do you know how politics works?"

"I've been told I'd make a fine Minister of Magic, actually."

"Of course you have. So, you'd understand that the parents are putting pressure on Minister Fudge to produce some sort of results; that they're just as scared as we are, so going after Hagrid is the easiest way to look as though he's doing something, even though Hagrid is most definitely not the culprit."

"I suppose you know about his expulsion, then, Miss Malfoy." Lockhart was pulling at straws, trying to make it seem like he knew better than her.

"He was framed. You cannot possibly subscribe to the idea that a 16 year old half giant orphan  _Gryffindor_  opened the Chamber of Secrets, then. And a half giant  _man_  who's as big as house, you think he'd be able to sneak around this castle without someone seeing? If you honestly believe that, you're more idiotic than that bloody peacock quill you flaunt at your book signings."

"5 points from Slytherin for your disrespect, Miss Malfoy." Lockhart said, walking away to his desk.

"Why don't you fall all over Lockhart like every other witch in this place?" Crabbe asked, quietly.

"I don't abide liars, frauds or narcissists." She smirked. "Draco only gets a pass because he's family."

As Lockhart walked them to Herbology, she passed Professor Sprout leading the Gryffindors to Defense class. Harry and Ron were talking about sneaking out to 'follow the spiders' into the Forbidden Forest. She knew they must've had a clue that led them there, so she decided to meet them out there. Slytherin Common Room emptied out of people long before midnight, so she sneaked out and headed to Hagrid's hut. She watched as Harry and Ron fed Fang Treacle Toffee and headed out and Callie walked out of the shadows. "What, exactly, do you two think you're doing?"

They jumped, obviously scared by her sudden appearance. "Callie! What are you doing out here?" Harry asked.

"I'd ask you the same if I hadn't overheard you in the hall. 'Follow the spiders'? Is that a clue you got from Hagrid?" 

Ron looked like he didn't want to answer, but Harry stepped closer to her. "Yes. Hagrid said, 'follow the spiders', so we're going into the forest because that's where the spiders we saw in Herbology were going."

"And you're going alone, Harry? That's not smart."

Ron looked offended. "What am I?"

"Useless unless the spiders wanna play chess." Callie spat back. "Honestly, Ronnie, you really think you're gonna be much help against werewolves, hippogriffs or bugbears? With your broken wand, you'd be no danger to a bowtruckle."

"Don't call me 'Ronnie'." Ron complained.

"You shouldn't have let me know you don't like that, Ronnie." She turned to Harry. "I'm here to help, so you might as well get used to the idea."

"All right, Callie. Let's go." Harry started for the Forest, pulling out his wand and lighting it. Callie used the  _lumos_ charm, as well, and they noticed a few spiders scurrying away from the light, so they followed them. Eventually, they came upon a car.  _The_ car. The flying car that they crashed into the Whomping Willow all those months ago. Ron was excited to see it, but Fang was wary of it and Callie didn't much care. She was following the spiders, still. And they led her the short distance from the Ford to the... giant... spider, which grabbed her. She screamed, Ron screamed, Harry's voice was frozen with fear.

After far too long of silence and darkness and giant spider legs, they were brought to a hollowed-out clearing in the trees, filled with hundreds of giant spiders. They were all dropped onto the ground of the clearing and the spiders called for their father, a blind spider named Aragog. When Aragog was told that they were strangers, not Hagrid, he said "Kill them."

"We're friends of Hagrid's!" Harry shouted.

"Hagrid has never sent men into our hollow before." Aragog said, slowly.

"Hagrid's in trouble. That's why we've come." 

"In trouble? But why has he sent you?"

"They think, up at the school, that Hagrid's been setting a-a- something on students. They've taken him to Azkaban." Harry answered.

Aragog was obviously angry about it, clicking his pincers. All the other spiders followed suit and it made Callie shiver. "But that was years ago. Years and years ago. I remember it well. That's why they made him leave the school. They believe that  _I_ was the monster that dwells in what they call the Chamber of Secrets. They thought that Hagrid had opened the Chamber and set me free."

"And you... you didn't come from the Chamber of Secrets?" Callie asked.

"I! I was not born in the castle. I come from a distant land. A traveler gave me to Hagrid when I was an egg. Hagrid was only a boy, but he cared for me, hidden in a cupboard in the castle, feeding me scraps from the table. Hagrid is my good friend and a good man. When I was discovered, and blamed for the death of a girl, he protected me. I have lived here in the forest ever since, where Hagrid still visits me. He even found me a wife, Mosag, and you see how our family has grown, all through Hagrid's goodness..."

"So, you never-never attacked anyone?" Harry asked.

"Never. It would have been my instinct, but out of respect for Hagrid, I never harmed a human. The body of the girl who was killed was discovered in a bathroom. I never saw any part of the castle but the cupboard in which I grew up. Our kind like the dark and the quiet..."

"But then... Do you know what  _did_  kill that girl?" Callie asked.

"Because whatever it is, it's back and attacking people again-" Harry's words were drowned out by clicking noises and rustling of spiders' legs.

"The thing that lives in the castle is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others. Well do I remember how I pleaded with Hagrid to let me go, when I sensed the best moving about the school."

"What is it?" Harry said, urgently.

"We do not speak of it! We do not name it! I never even told Hagrid the name of that dread creature, thought he asked me, many times." Aragog started to back away from them but his children started to inch forward. 

"We'll just go, then." Harry called out.

"Go? I think not..."

"But-but..."

"My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid, on my command. But I cannot deny them fresh meat, when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Goodbye, friend of Hagrid."

The trio reached for their wands, but they knew it was no good. There were far too many spiders. They would never be able to get out. That is, if the Flying Ford hadn't crashed into the spiders' hollow and rescued them. They piled in, pushing Fang in with them, and the Ford took off. The spiders were following rapidly behind them, though. "Ron, get down!" Callie demanded, pushing him down into the seat and leaning over him to raise her wand and shout " _Confringo_!" at a spider which latched onto the car. It exploded into bits. The car slammed to a stop as soon as they reached the edge of the forest and they all got out of the car on shaky legs. Harry gave the car a grateful pat as it reversed and went back into the woods. Harry went into Hagrid's to get his cloak, while Ron began to throw up in the pumpkin patch.

Callie ran her hand up and down his back. It was something her Mom had always done for her when she got sick. "Let it all out. You'll feel better after." She said, soothingly.

"Follow the spiders." said Ron, weakly, wiping his mouth on his sleeve as he sat up. "I'll never forgive Hagrid. We're lucky to be alive."

"I bet he thought Aragog wouldn't hurt friends of his." said Harry.

"That's exactly Hagrid's problem! He always thinks monsters aren't as bad as they're made out, and look where it's got him! A cell in Azkaban! What was the point of sending us in there? What have we found out, I'd like to know!" Ron was shivering uncontrollably now.

"That Hagrid never opened the Chamber, just like I said. He was innocent." Callie filled in.

Harry nodded. "How are you getting back to the Slytherin dorms?" He asked to Callie. 

"Same as I got out. I'm going to walk. See, if anyone catches me, I'll just tell them that I didn't want to ask for an escort because I was embarrassed because I started my lady-time and I didn't want everyone-"

Ron gagged. "I don't wanna hear that!"

Callie laughed. "Neither will Filch or any of the others!"

Ron and Harry looked at each other. "It's kind of brilliant." Ron admitted. 

"I'll see you tomorrow, boys. Or rather, later today." She said, walking toward the castle.


	6. The Chamber of Secrets

Harry told her the next day that he thought the girl who died might be Moaning Myrtle and Callie promised to try to get some time in the second floor girls bathroom, but there just was no chance of it, and then, three days before exams, the announcement went out that they were all to stay in their dorms, that a student had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets and they were all being sent home the next day.

Callie couldn't go home. There was no way that she'd be able to explain the Dr. and Mr. Nefzen that children were being petrified by a snake monster and that's why she was sent home almost a month early. They would never allow her to come back if they knew she might be in danger. 

And when she found out who had been taken, she requested Snape take her to the Gryffindor dorms. He refused, of course, so she waited until Snape left and then she left, herself. She ran into Harry and Ron on their way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. She gave her condolences to Ron, who nodded and thanked her, and then they went into Lockhart's class. Harry knocked and the hurried footsteps and noises from inside the office suddenly stopped. The door opened, just a crack. "Oh, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Malfoy. I'm rather busy at the moment, if you would be quick." Lockhart said, opening the door wider.

"Professor, we've got some information for you. We think it'll help you." Harry started.

"Er, well, it's not terribly- I mean, well- all right." He opened the door and the trio entered to see him packing everything up.

"Are you going somewhere?" Callie asked, but she already knew he was running. The fraud.

"Er, well, yes. Urgent call, unavoidable, got to go-"

"What about my sister?" Ron snapped.

"Well, as to that- most unfortunate- no one regrets more than I!"

"You're the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher! You can't go now! Not with all the Dark stuff going on here!" Harry yelled.

"Well, I must say, when I took the job, nothing in the job description, didn't expect-"

"You mean you're running away. After all the stuff you said you did in your books..." Callie growled.

"Books can be misleading." said Lockhart, delicately.

"You wrote them!" Callie and Harry shouted.

"My dear children, do use your common sense. My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think  _I'd_  done all those things. No one wants to read about some ugly old Armenian warlock, even if he did save a village from werewolves. He'd look dreadful on the front cover. No dress sense at all. And the witch who banished the Bandon Banshee had a hairy chin. I mean, come on!"

"So, you've just been taking credit for what a load of other people have done?" Harry asked.

"Harry, Harry. It's not nearly as simple as that. There was work involved. I had to track these people down, ask them exactly how they managed to do what they did, then I had to put a Memory Charm on them so they wouldn't remember doing it. If there's one thing I pride myself on, it's my Memory Charms. No, it's been a lot of work, Harry. It's not all book signings and publicity photos, you know. You want fame, you have to be prepared for a long hard slog."

He looked around at his trunks and belongings. "Let's see, I think that's everything. Yes. Only one thing left." He pulled out his wand and turned to them. "Awfully sorry, kids, but I'll have to put a Memory Charm on you now. Can't have you blabbing my secrets all over the place. I'd never sell another book-"

Harry pulled his wand and yelled ' _Expelliarmus_ ', blasting Lockhart backward. His wand shot into the air and Ron caught it, flinging it out Lockhart's open window. "Shouldn't have let Professor Snape teach us that one."

"This one's got spells can blow you to spider guts, so I wouldn't cross us." Ron said, jerking his head at Callie, who smirked.

"What do you want me to do?" Lockhart whined. "I don't know where the Chamber of Secrets is. There's nothing I can do."

"You're in luck." Callie said, as Harry forced Lockhart to his feet at wandpoint. "We think  _we_  know where it is.  _And_  what's inside it. Let's go." The three young students marched Lockhart out of his office and down the closest set of stairs, along the dark corridor where the messages shone on the wall, to the door to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. They sent Lockhart, who was visibly shaking, in first.

Moaning Myrtle was sitting on the tank of the toilet on the far end. "Oh, it's you." She said when she saw Harry. "What do you want this time?"

"To ask you how you died."

Myrtle seemed to light up at the idea, like she'd never been asked such a flattering question. "Oooh, it was dreadful. It happened right in here. I died in this very stall. I remember it so well. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. The door was locked, and I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in. They said something funny. A different language, I think it must have been. Anyway, what really got me was that it was a  _boy_  speaking. So I unlocked the door, to tell him to go and use his own toilet, and then- I  _died_."

"How?" Callie asked.

"No idea. I just remember seeing a pair of great, big, yellow eyes. My whole body sort of seized up, and then I was floating away... and then I came back again. I was determined to haunt Olive Hornby, you see. Oh, she was sorry she'd ever laughed at my glasses."

"Where exactly did you see the eyes?" Harry asked.

"Somewhere there." Myrtle pointed to the sink in front of her stall. Callie walked over to the sink and examined it, finding a tiny snake etched into the side of one of the copper taps. She tried to turn it on, but nothing happened. "That tap's never worked."

Callie focused on the snake as Harry and the others watched her. " _Open up_." She said, except she didn't. What came out of her mouth was a strange hissing sound. The tap began to glow a brilliant white and began to spin, then the sink began to move and sank out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed. A pipe large enough for a grown man to slide into.

"You're a Parselmouth, too?!" Ron shouted but Harry just looked confused.

"Guess Hermione got Petrified before she had a chance to share that with you. Gift from my Father's blood. Are we going down the pipe, or not?" 

"I'm going down there." Harry answered, stepping forward.

"Me, too." said Ron.

"Well, you hardly seem to need me." Lockhart flashed a smile and moved to leave. "I'll just-"

The trio pointed their wands at him. "You can go first." Ron snarled. 

Lockhart was obviously terrified as he stepped toward the opening. "Kids, kids, what good will it do? I really don't think-" Ron pushed him into the pipe and he slid out of sight.

"See you on the other side, boys." Callie said, before dropping into the pipe. It twisted and turned and felt slimy under her but eventually the sloping deepened and then the pipe leveled out and she shot out of the end with a wet thud. She stood just as Harry came whizzing out of the pipe. They started to walk down the tunnel, Callie and Harry using their wands as light sources. Eventually, they came upon several long sheddings of snake skin. Lockhart fell to his knees at the sight. 

"Get up." Ron said, pointing his wand at Lockhart. Lockhart responded by knocking Ron down and grabbing his wand.

"The adventure ends here, children! I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the school, tell them I was too late to save the girl, and that you three  _tragically_  lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body. Say goodbye to your memories!" He raised Ron's Spellotaped wand high over his head and yelled, " _Obliviate_!"

The wand exploded with the force of a small bomb. Harry ended up on the other side of a wall made of small chunks of the tunnel, but Callie and Ron were stuck on the other side with Gilderoy Lockhart, who looked distinctly confused. "Ron! Callie! Are you okay?" Harry's voice carried from the other side.

"We're here! We're okay! This git's not, though! He got blasted by the wand!" Ron shouted, before kicking Lockhart in his shin. "What now? We can't get through- it'll take ages."

Callie rolled her eyes and kicked Lockhart, too. "Harry, just go ahead without us. We'll start moving these rocks and we'll come help as soon as we can."

"If I'm not back in an hour..." Harry called.

"Harry?" Ron called.

"See you in a bit." Harry said. 

Callie looked from Lockhart to Ron and took a deep breath. "You keep an eye on Mr. Order of Merlin, Best Smile in  _Witch Weekly,_ blah blah blah. I'll start moving the rocks." She pointed her wand at the top of the stack.  _"Wingardium Leviosa_." 

"So, how long have you been a Parselmouth?" Ron asked as the rock began to levitate.

"Guess forever. Didn't even know it was a thing until Harry told that snake to leave Justin Finch-Fletchley alone and everyone freaked out."

"You know most Parselmouths-"

"My father was evil, Ronnie. I got it from him." She dropped the rock and went for another one. "When I get enough stones moved, I'm gonna climb through to help Harry."

"What am I supposed to do?" Ron complained.

"Someone's gotta watch Memory Loss Ken Doll, there."

"But it's my sister!"

"And you can't do anything against a basilisk, Ron. You don't even have a proper wand. Also, I'm smaller and I'll be able to get through a smaller hole." She turned to him as another rock dropped. "Ron, your brothers are like brothers to me, which means I'd be devastated for them if something were to happen to Ginevra. I've only got to move a few more rocks and then I can go help Harry."

Ron nodded and she went back to moving rocks. When she'd made a hole, she climbed through, following the dark tunnel down to a chamber with a huge statue against the back wall. Harry was fighting the basilisk, a 20 foot long serpent that was a vibrant green color. Harry had somewhere found a sword and was dodging the serpent and lashing out with it. Callie ran forward as the snake got its tooth into Harry's arm. " _Stop!_ " She demanded.

The basilisk stopped, going still long enough for Harry to push the sword up into the roof of the serpent's mouth. Callie ran over as Harry slid down the wall, pulling the basilisk's fang out of his arm as the snake fell to the side, twitching. "Why did my basilisk listen to you? It only listens to me!" Someone Callie hadn't noticed shouted as she came to Harry's side.

"If you're the Heir, so's she." Harry groaned.

"Harry, don't talk. I... I can... I can get you-" 

"What do you mean, 'so's she?'" The boy, who had black hair and brown eyes and looked to be about 16, growled.

"Ginny didn't tell you about Callie? Voldemort's daughter."

"Harry, who is this?" Callie asked, turning to the boy as a brightly-colored bird swooped down to sit in Harry's lap.

"Tom Riddle... Voldemort." Harry whispered. "Fawkes, you were fantastic, Fawkes."

Callie and Tom looked at each other, appraisingly, and she stood. He was much taller than her, but she could see some of her features that matched his. Their eyes were the exact same color of brown and she could see where her full lips came from. "The diary, then? Held a piece of you, which you used to possess Ginny to do your dirty work until you could suck her life force out and came back?" Callie guessed as the bird began to cry.

"Clever. Should've had the book given to you. You would've been far more useful." 

"Doubt that. I would've figured out what you were up to long before and  _I_  would've given that book to Dumbledore months ago."

"So, you're not following in my footsteps? Pity. What point is a child if they don't finish what you've started?"

"I imagine you were going to use me for some sort of power play. It's your Modus Operandi."

"And your mother?"

"Hated you. Had to be put under Imperius just to touch you. I imagine you weren't very handsome after so many years of being evil." Callie could hear Harry stirring behind her and Voldemort looked over her head at Harry. 

His eyes widened and he stomped past her. "Get away, bird. Get away from him. I said,  _get away_!" The bird took off as Voldemort chased it off. "Phoenix tears. Of course... healing powers... I forgot. But it makes no difference. In fact, it's better this way. I prefer it this way. I'll take care of you, myself, Harry Potter."

Callie moved to pull her wand as the phoenix flew back through and dropped something in Harry's lap. All three stared down at the diary in his lap for a second before Harry grabbed the basilisk fang and stabbed it into the book. There was a long, dreadful, piercing scream. Ink spurted out of the diary in torrents, streaming over Harry's hands, flooding the floor. Riddle was writing and twisting, screaming and flailing and then-

He was gone. Callie ran to pull Harry up and hugged him. "Are you all right, Harry? I mean, holy crow, that was... Look at that bloody snake!"

"I'm okay." Harry assured her, looking at the hole in his robes where the fang had pierced him. "Fawkes saved me."

A moan drew their attention to the other end of the Chamber and they ran over to Ginny who was sitting up. She looked around them, her eyes traveling over the dead serpent and the bird, and the Sorting Hat, and finally Callie, and Harry in his blood-soaked robes and the diary in his hand. She immediately started to cry, tears streaming down her face. "Harry, oh, Harry, I tried to tell you at b-breakfast, but I  _c-couldn't_  say it in front of Percy. It was  _me_ , Harry, but I, I s-swear I d-didn't mean to! Riddle made me, he t-took me over and...  _how_  did you beat that-that thing? W-where's Riddle? The last thing I r-remember is him coming out of that diary-"

As Harry assured her that it was okay, that Riddle was gone and he'd destroyed the diary, Ginny began to freak out about her certain expulsion, but Callie assured her that there were extenuating circumstances and Dumbledore would understand and 'Come on, let's go.' They made it through the tunnel and through the hole, which Ron had worked to make bigger. Ron was beyond ecstatic that Ginny was alive, confused about where Harry's sword and the phoenix had come from, which Harry promised to explain later, and then Ron explained that Lockhart was completely without his memory. The Memory Charm had backfired so badly that Lockhart didn't even know his own name, anymore. Callie thought that was pretty darn hilarious.

Fawkes flew the five of them up the pipes and back into the girls bathroom on the second floor. Myrtle was a bit disappointed that Harry was still alive, but that wasn't the important thing. The important thing was to follow the bird because he was still flying... toward Acting Headmistress McGonagall's office. Harry knocked once, then opened the door. Molly Weasley shouted, " _Ginny!_ " and jumped up from the seat in front of the fire where she'd been sobbing. Arthur Weasley followed his wife as she flung herself at the youngest Weasley child.

Headmaster Dumbledore was standing by the mantel, smiling at Harry and Callie, next to Professor McGonagall who looked like she'd just had the biggest shock of her long life. Mrs. Weasley flung herself at Harry next. "You saved her! You saved her!  _How_  did you do it?"

"I think we'd all like to know that." said Professor McGonagall holding her chest. 

Harry looked around the room, then looked to Callie, then moved to set the Sorting Hat and the sword and the remains of the diary on the desk, before turning to the grown-ups and beginning the tale. For about twenty minutes, he talked; telling them about him and Callie hearing the disembodied voice, how Hermione had finally realized they were hearing a basilisk in the pipes, how they had followed the spiders into the forest, that Aragog had told them where the last victim of the basilisk had died, how he had guessed that Moaning Myrtle had been the victim and that the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets might be in her bathroom...

"Very well, so you found out where the entrance was- breaking a hundred school rules into pieces along the way, I might add- but how on  _earth_  did you all get out of there alive, Potter?" McGonagall asked.

Harry took a deep breath and told them about Fawkes' timely arrival and the Sorting Hat giving him the sword and then he faltered. He looked, a bit helplessly, at Dumbledore who smiled faintly. "What interests  _me_  most is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, when my sources tell me he is currently in hiding in the forests of Albania."

Half of the eyes in the office instinctively flicked to Callie, who just looked down as Arthur stumbled out, "W-what's that?  _You-Know-Who_? En-enchant  _Ginny_? But Ginny's not... Ginny hasn't been... has she?"

"It was this diary. Riddle wrote in it when he was sixteen..." Harry announced, picking up the diary. 

Dumbledore took it from his hand and examined it. "Brilliant. Of course, he was probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen. Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle. I taught him myself, fifty years ago, at Hogwarts. He disappeared after leaving the school... traveled far and wide... sank so deeply into the Dark Arts, consorted with the very worst of our kind, underwent so many dangerous, magical transformations, that when he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he was barely recognizable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here."

Mrs. Weasley asked what that had to do with Ginny and the girl broke down, explaining that she'd been writing in the diary and he'd been writing back all year and, after Mr. Weasley chastised her for not telling them about something that was obviously full of Dark Magic, Dumbledore sent her to Madame Pomfrey with the promise that she would not be punished for her actions while under Voldemort's thrall. He said that Pomfrey was sure to be awake because she'd just given out the Mandrake Restorative Draughts and the basilisk's victims were sure to be waking at any moment.

Ron and Harry were deeply happy about the fact that Hermione would be back with them shortly. Dumbledore suggested a feast to celebrate and McGonagall agreed, leaving him to 'deal with Potter, Weasley and Malfoy'. The three exchanged a look that said 'No way are we about to be  _punished_ , right?'. "I seem to remember, at the beginning of the year, telling you boys that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules." Dumbledore said to Harry and Ron. "Which goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words. You will all receive Special Awards for Services to the School and- let me see- two hundred points apiece for Gryffindor and Slytherin."

They gasped and turned a bit pink at the thought... and then Dumbledore turned to Gilderoy Lockhart, who still didn't know who he was and was surprised when Dumbledore addressed him as 'Professor'. Dumbledore requested Ron and Callie take Lockhart to the infirmary, too, and they started to push the man out of the office. "Hey, Callie?" Ron started as they tugged at Lockhart's grimy robes to get him up the stairs. "Thank you. I know that Harry killed the snake and the book, but... you know, you went in there for Ginny. You put yourself at risk for my little sister and... you know, I was... I was probably wrong about you."

"You were." She confirmed. "But thanks, Ronnie. I mean,  _Ron_."

~~

Callie had never been hugged the way Fred and George hugged her in the Great Hall at the feast. They stole her breath squeezing her, but she didn't mind. "I didn't do much."

"Didn't  _do much?_ " The twins echoed.

"Harry told us all about it!" said Fred, still squeezing her.

"You opened the Chamber!"

"You're a Parselmouth!"

"You distracted You-Know-Who long enough for Harry to destroy the diary and disenchant Ginny."

"You helped save our baby sister!"

She was red from blushing and oxygen deprivation by the time they let her go.

Hermione walked up to her as soon as the Weasley twins allowed her room to breathe and offered her hand. "I was only up to the 'M' monsters. I wouldn't have thought to look into snakes if you hadn't admitted you were a Parselmouth. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have had Penelope's mirror and I would have died. So, thank you, Callie." The two shook hands and traded smiles and Callie felt she'd made another friend out of an old enemy.

Her two hundred points for Slytherin weren't enough to combat Harry and Ron's combined four hundred points, so Gryffindor won the House Cup for the second year in a row, and then Dumbledore announced that there would be no exams as a special treat and that Lockhart would not be returning since he had no memory and would have to leave to get it back. Callie had never cheered so hard in her life.

Soon after, they were all on the Hogwarts Express heading home. She wasn't able to sit with her new friends (and old ones) as there was only enough room for 6 in the compartment, but she made sure to give them hugs before heading off to sit with her cousin and  _his_  friends. When the train came to a stop she waved to her cousin and rushed off to give a final goodbye to the Weasleys and Harry and Hermione before heading off to meet her parents in the Muggle world.


End file.
